The Phoenix and the Carpet · Chapter
XI: The Beginning of the End explained
Mother criticizes the worn carpet, and the children try to repair it with Tatcho and paraffin.
What happens
Mother criticizes the worn carpet, and the children try to repair it with Tatcho and paraffin. They attend a theatre performance of The Water Babies, but a fire breaks out. The Phoenix uses its power over fire to save them and undo the damage. The children realize they must get rid of the Phoenix.
Themes in this chapter
Magic and Adventure
The children use the magic carpet and the Phoenix's powers to escape a theatre fire, highlighting the magical elements of their adventures.
Deception and Secrecy
The children hide the true nature of the carpet from mother and attempt to repair it with paraffin, maintaining the secret of its magic.
Family and Responsibility
The children care for the Lamb and worry about their parents' reaction to the fire, showing their sense of family duty.
Characters to notice
- Anthea
Suggests using Tatcho on the carpet; cares for the Lamb; worries about parents' reaction to the fire.
- Cyril
Fetches the Tatcho; suggests sensible actions after the fire; speaks of the Sons of the Phoenix society.
- Robert
Questions mother about boots; talks to the Phoenix about its fire powers.
- Jane
Worries about using all the Tatcho; participates in the carpet repair.
- The Phoenix
Emerges from the cupboard; offers wisdom; uses fire power to save the children and repair theatre damage.
- The Lamb
Spills jam on himself; plays games with siblings; reaches for the Phoenix.
Key passages
“Well, I must say, mother said, looking at the wishing carpet as it lay, all darned and mended and backed with shiny American cloth, on the floor of the nursery—'I must say I’ve never in my life bought such a bad bargain as that carpet.'”
Mother complains about the carpet, calling it a poor purchase despite the children's repairs.
Mother's criticism of the carpet sets the chapter's conflict in motion.
“It was the work of a good many minutes and several persons to get the jam off him again, and this interesting work took people’s minds off the carpet, and nothing more was said just then about its badness as a bargain and about what mother hoped for from coconut matting.”
Cleaning up the Lamb after he spills jam distracts everyone from the carpet discussion.
The Lamb's mischief temporarily diverts attention from the carpet's fate.
“We must get rid of that Phoenix.”
The children decide they need to be rid of the Phoenix.
The children's conclusion after the fire incident shows their growing unease with the Phoenix's unpredictable magic.